Student Learning Outcomes

General Education Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

Use the English language to communicate with clarity, coherence and persuasiveness, demonstrating critical analysis, logic, precision and rhetorical awareness. (Communication)

Identify, analyze and evaluate arguments and sources of information to make informed and logical judgments, to arrive at reasoned and meaningful arguments and positions, and to formulate and apply ideas to new contexts. (Critical Thinking)

Articulate the nature of a multicultural society and recognize the role of aesthetic awareness, foreign language skills, cultural and social perspectives or human and institutional systems of the past and present. (Diversity and Social Responsibility)

Clarify and evaluate their own values and ethical conduct and analyze the values and ethical conduct of others. (Personal Values and Ethics)

Identify and evaluate wellness principles, including mental, emotional and physical health, needed to make informed choices. (Wellness and Well-Being)

Activities

The General Education Board is engaging in a number of activities related to assessment, and more are planned for the upcoming year. The following are highlights of past and current activities:

2007-2008 Academic Year

Included questions related to gT Pathways competency in writing, reading, critical thinking and mathematics as part of end-of-semester student perception/evaluations

Compiled data from student perceptions and evaluations

2008-2009 Academic Year

Surveyed department chairs to determine what students need to get out of the general education curriculum. Results were shared during a convocation discussion with faculty, who indicated a desire for assessable SLO's in the general education program that would be shared by and communicated among faculty

General education student learning outcomes were developed and approved by the Faculty Senate

Assessment plan was developed

Commercially-produced standardized tests of general education outcomes were reviewed

February 3, 2011: A workshop was held to assist faculty in developing critical thinking rubrics for student assignments

March 4, 2011: A group met to share their ideas on connecting discipline-specific critical thinking to general education

The general education theme for Academic Year 2011-2012 was developed: Changing World, Changing Roles: Social Responsibility in the 21st Century

April 28, 2011: The final Year of Critical Thinking event included a poster session and presentations held at the LARC

2011-2012 Academic Year

August 17, 2011: The General Education Board kicked off the semester with a convocation session which introduced the theme: Changing World Changing Roles-Social Responsibility in the 21st Century, including conversation about social responsibility and strategies for teaching in general education and in the major.

September 20, 2011: The first 20/20 Lecture Series was held and included Paul Chacon and Christine Rochester as they addressed the General Education theme.

October 11, 2011: "How'd They Do?" This session included discussion of the results for testing incoming freshmen and senior students.

October 20, 2011: The second 20/20 Lecture Series featured presentations by Jackie Stroud and John O'Connor. Jackie addressed "Social Responsibility and Historical Research: Taking Care of the Artifacts We Touch" and John addressed "Peter Singer on Global Poverty and Responsibility."

November 10, 2011: The third 20/20 Lecture Series featured presentations by Libby Samaras and Joel Johnson. Libby addressed "Stakeholder Dissonance as a Critical Determinant of Patient Safety in New Health Information Technologies" and Joel addressed "Should Voting Be Mandatory? Social Responsibility in Politics."

November 11, 2011: The General Education board held a workshop to discuss how we, as educators at a public university, can help our students become more socially responsible scholars in an ever-changing world.

2012-2013 Academic Year

General Education Board announced its theme for the year, Communication & Learning: Transforming Tomorrow's Ethics and Values.

September 20, 2012: 1st 20/20 Lecture for the academic year. Kevin Seeber of the library faculty facilitated a webinar sponsored by TurnItIn on plagiarism.

October 19, 2012: 2nd 20/20 Lecture was held.

Ethics subcommittee was formed including Bruce Lundberg, John O'Connor, Kelly Gehlhoff, and Lee Anne Martinez.

January 8, 2013: Spring Convocation Workshop held on "Closing the Loop"

January 22, 2013: 3rd 20/20 Lecture presented by John O'Connor

February 20, 2013: 4th 20/20 Lecture presented by Bruce Lundberg

March 21, 2013: 5th 20/20 Lecture presented by James Ma of the Hasan School of Business

April 19, 2013: 6th 20/20 Lecture presented by Rhonda Gonzales and Marc Pratarelli on the topic of Open Access publishing.

Spring 2013: Gen Ed Board conducted a Faculty Gen Ed Survey

Spring 2013: All Deans and Department Chairs sign off on letter stating that all Gen Ed courses in their college meet GT Pathways content and competency requirements.

2013-2014 Academic Year

General Education Board announced its theme for the year, Thinking Beyond Green: Addressing Sustainability through General Education.

October 22, 2013: Campus workshop conducted by Sarah Spencer on ways to incorporate sustainability themes into general education classes.

February 5, 2014: Sustainability workshop featuring Jane Fraser and Marc Pratarelli was held. At the end of the workshop, the attendees discussed having some small reading groups based on Brian Dunbar's book, which was made available to faculty during a workshop held in the fall.

February 12, 2014: Faculty member from UCCS met with Gen Ed Board to describe recent redesign of their Gen Ed program.